All Hope Is Gone - Slipknot

5. Craig

They had all gone through the large scare a month or two ago with Jim... doing what he had done. It had made everybody scared and worried.

Craig was scared, as anyone was if not more fearful. Craig knew Jim didn't really talk to many people and hadn't for a while, but he had gone to give him hugs whenever he could and as often as he saw Jim.

Craig didn't talk. It started as just him being quiet but eventually words started entirely slipping away from him always, but he tried to show affection through hugs and gifts and time together.

So Craig started to wonder if quality time just wasn't enough.

So he started observing the way his friends spoke. Sometimes they were happy, sometimes sad, sometimes angry. Craig had struggled with that as a kid. But he didn't talk much anyways. He had two friends back in school for a few years before they didn't talk to him anymore.

When meeting Corey he had been scared the same thing would happen and Corey would get tired of one sided conversations. But he was glad that hadn't happened.

Joey seemed to be really patient after Craig wrote out what he was doing studying mouths of his friends. As much as he didn't talk he loved to write conversations and sometimes the others would write too, which made him feel nice because they seemed to feel like he felt. It was mostly short conversations they didn't really think about but it still made Craig feel good.

He was walking around trying to find Chris or someone who would draw with him but he couldn't find anyone. Craig frowned and went to get a notebook and go outside.

He took a big box of pencils and markers, his favorites from the collection he had, and a thick notebook and went outside.

"Craig! Hi." He heard Sid say and looked around but didn't see him. "Up here!" He called. Sid was up in a tree with Joey and Paul. Craig smiled up at them and waved to them.

"What're you doin'?" Joey called down. Craig held up his box of art supplies and the notebook.

"Wait what is that?" Paul asked Sid.

"Some markers. Craig, can we come draw with you?" Sid asked. Craig smiled and nodded. They started moving down the tree and eventually they went to the river and started drawing.

Craig drew a cat because Craig felt like a cat would look pretty with some of the colors he had with him. He noticed Sud drawing random shit with occasional little people and logos. Joey had been working in just pencil on a portrait of someone Craig didn't recognize. And Chris seemed to be shifting his eyes back and forth between the paper and Sid.

After Craig finished his cat he named it Whiskers and wrote it down. He smiled at it and moved on to a different drawing. He picked a flower and did a sketch in pen of it. Eventually he made the single flower into a bouquet of them. He colored them blues and purples.

"Dumbasses, it's dinner time!" Corey yelled from the porch at the group.

They all helped clean up and they went inside.

Craig grabbed his serving of spaghetti and sat at their big ass table.

Sid sat next to him and started chatting.

"Hey Craig, did you hear about this band thats going around recently around. They're called Red Lights, they make some weird shit. I got a package I ordered of one of their things because I'd only heard a little on the radio. You should check it out, it's real interesting. It's like newer thrash metal but they look like a whole 80s glam band but they're music is a lot heavier and I think it's a little silly because you have these Mötley Crüe looking guys and they're singing like Matt Fallon and playing like Kirk Hammett." Sid laughed.